A Hero Named Sephiroth and Villian Named Ganglere
by 1sniperwolf
Summary: What if, just for a moment, we thought that Lucrecia married Vincent Valentine before Hojo got her. What would happen to Sephiroth then? Mild language. chapter 11 up.
1. Chapter 1

"Lucrecia, will you marry me?" asked Vincent Valentine. He was kneeling, wearing his Turk uniform, and had a ring in his hand. She opened her mouth and closed it again. She hated being put on the spot. And that's what he did, with her friends there and his, a surprise party.

"Yes… Yes, I'll marry you." She said finally, with a smile as big as his on her face. Vincent put the ring on her left hand and embraced her, kissing her with all he had.

When Vincent let the kiss go, Lucrecia looked around at their friends. All were happy for the two… All save one. Hojo shook his head and had a disappointed look on his face. Lucrecia had thought he had a thing for her or something but now she knew he didn't.

Looking back at Vincent, she kissed him just as strongly.

Five years had passed since the two had married. Hojo never faced them again, meaning that he resenting them for their marriage. Vincent was no longer worker for the Turks. Instead, he was helping a fledgling group that called themselves the Chocobo Knights, a group working to make the area around Windsong village safe. Windsong was a hidden village near Gongoga in the forest by the river, a village rich with Mako and Mako fountains, and as a result, materia.

Until they formed, Vincent was doing most of the monster extermination himself. But now, he had more time to spend with his wife.

"Good morning dear husband. Have you heard? Lord and Lady Kiseragi have had a daughter."

"Really? We'll need to congradulate them next time we are in Wutai."

"About that, I have also heard that the tensions between Wutai and Shin-Ra are still growing. Shin-Ra is sure to be watching anyone coming and going. And…"

"I know. Shin-Ra doesn't know about Windsong, and I will keep it that way. They won't suck this land dry of life."

"That's why I love you. You never let anything you're protecting be harm, no matter how small it is."

"That the only reason?"

"No. But it is a reason. But I can't tell you all of them. The list is too long and we have plans for today. And I won't delay them."

Vincent wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her. He then picked her up and carried her to the bedroom.

The next month, Vincent was in the yard, practicing with a new weapon when Lucrecia called him.

"What can I help you with?" Vincent asked when he sat down next to her.

"Tell me you love me." Confused, Vincent did. "And you'll love me forever." He assured her that he'll love her longer than that. "And that you'll love our child just as much."

Vincent started to but then the full impact of what she said hit him. "You, you're pregnant?" She nodded, smiling. "Than that means…" "You'll be a father."

Vincent smiled, there was no way he couldn't, and told her so. "Of course I'll love our child!"

"Sorry, I couldn't think of a better way to tell you. I didn't mean to worry you."

"It's quite alright." Vincent assured her. "We need to think up names."

"Well, I have a few I think you will like. If it's a boy, maybe Sephiroth or maybe…"

Author's Notes: I don't own Final Fantasy 7


	2. Chapter 2

"Come on Sephiroth. If you plan to beat your old man some day, you need to learn from your mistakes." Vincent said, holding a practice sword.

"Alright, here I come!"

Lucrecia was sitting in a chair, watching her son and husband practice while she was feeding their twin daughters Alexia and Veronica.

"Hey dad, when is Master Katarle coming by again. I always do better against you after one of his lessons." asked Sephiroth.

"He'll be here in a few day's actually. But you got to remember he is a busy man. He taught me how to fight along with two other students at that time. And they both also have children now who are eager to learn."

"Yes father." The two bow and sat down. Vincent and Lucrecia smiled. They knew that the old weapons master from Wutai was coming here to start a dojo. But they were keeping it a secret for now.

"By the way dad, what were your fellow students like?" asked the eleven year old. Despite his parents being black haired, he was born with white and it refused to let up that color.

"Well, sadly one of them is dead. But the other is still alive and well. He is Lord Godo Kiseragi of Wutai."

Sephiroth nodded and started eating a sandwich.

"Anybody home?"

"Back here," Lucrecia called.

A man in a black suit and deep red hair came in. "Mr. And Mrs. Valentine, I presume? I am Reno of the Turks. Representing the head of the Turks, Reeve, and Shin-Ra, we would like you, Vincent, on a mission."

"Reno, I'm retired. More over, I'm in my late forties. And I have cut all ties to Shin-Ra.

"And why are you being so formal? You should still be that pain in the neck that I left you as."

Reno smiled and dropped the tense look. "Reeve said I need to be more formal and such. I'll play at this for a bit and drop it soon enough."

"Would you like something to eat?" asked Lucrecia.

"Please. Last I ate was this morning. After some guys approached me, asked if I wanted to meet with you, probably because I was asking around, and blind folded me."

"With Shin-Ra sucking the life out of the planet anywhere they can, the people of Wishsong fear losing the Lifestream that makes their village beautiful. Robert, I know your there, where did you pick him up at?"

A teenager dropped down from a tree. He was wearing a ninja-sneaking suit, only colored in army green camouflage. He put a hand behind his head and said, "Heh, still not good enough to watch you unnoticed. We grabbed him at North Corel."

"Long ride." Vincent nodded and Robert left in the classic ninja jump. "Sit down. So, just wondering, what is this mission about?"

Reno took a bite out of one of the sandwiches on a plate in the center. "This is good Lucrecia, thank you. The mission is to go to the town of Nibelhiem and investigate increase in monster activities. The roster is a couple of Soldiers, a First Class Soldier, and Ganglere."

"Thee Ganglere? The hero of the Wutai war?" asked Sephiroth.

"The one and the same."

Vincent went over the profile sheets. "Clark Pentegarn, Cloud Strife, and Rikku Remineko were the soldiers. The profile for the second said that he had potential but no way of drawing that potential out has been discovered. 'Maybe necessary to give him the Soldier mixture to get top efficient use out of.'

"Zack Greyhawk is the first class soldier. Apparently, he could do anything. If he did something half heartily, most would think it was perfectly done. And often it was.

"And Ganglere. Age :17. Blood type: unknown. Date of birth: unknown. Birthplace: unknown. Unknown, unknown, unknown. What, is he a national public secret?"

Reno smiled and said, "Unknown. Really, the President has locked his file. Had to go through a mountain of paperwork just for that."

"Well, anyway, I'm not going so it doesn't matter."

"I'll give Reeve your reply…Am I going to be blindfolded again?"

"Yes. No one can know where this village is. I assume you'll come up with a different story on where you met me."

"Of course. Take care."

Author's Notes: I don't own Final Fantasy 7


	3. Chapter 3

Sephiroth was walking to the cave that lead to the other side of the mountain range that split the continent in half. With Junon behind him and Fort Condor to his right, it was only a couple of hours to Kalm. Five years has past sense Reno came and tried to recruit Vincent for the mission to Nibelhiem.

Sephiroth, a teenager now, decided he would spend some time abroad. So, with his katana in hand and black coat and white armor on, he left.

As he neared the cave, he saw someone come out of it. As he got closer, he hailed the traveler and went to greet him. But when the other was in striking distance, he pulled out the masamune and tried to strike Sephiroth down. Blocking it with his blade, he went under the blade and went to place a finishing strike.

The masamune blocked the attack and knocked Sephiroth back. "I know that blade, it struck down many of the Wutian warriors in the war. You're Ganglere! And the son of Hojo!"

"You know me, may I have the name of the impudent boy I'm about to kill?"

"My name is Sephiroth! But you won't be killing me!"

"Sephiroth…Sephiroth… Ah, now I remember. You were supposed to be the son of Hojo. But Valentine took Lucrecia away from him before he could make his move."

"For which, I will be externally grateful. After all, I don't like the thought of being a clone of Jenova."

"Interesting, how do you know that?" making a slash as he asked.

"My father made an investigation in your wake after what you did five years ago," returning the attack.

The two attacked and counter attacked for five minutes. And it became very clear that at this level of experience, Sephiroth was the lesser.

A finishing attack slashed Sephiroth in the chest and dropped him.

"You're not dead, boy. I'm interested in how good you'll be when you get stronger. If you want to fight me again, there is a group coming this way, two males, two females and a Cosmo canyon warrior. Join up with them and we'll meet again." Ganglere then turned and left.

"Damn you."

"I already am." And the way he said it told that he was proud of that.

"Cloud! I found someone! He's injured badly!" A girl in a pink dress that smelled of flowers knelt by him. "Don't worry, we're going to help you," she said soothingly.

Cloud, that name, it's so familiar. Where have I heard it?

The girl place her hands on his chest and a cure spell went through him. Sephiroth opened his eyes and saw a guy with spiky, blond hair looking at his wound. "Tifa, isn't that the same cut you got from Ganglere?"

"Yes, it is. If he did this to him, he's lucky to be alive."

"So, what do we do with him? The wound isn't that bad for now but if we move him, it will tears open in a thousand places." A big, black man with a machine gun on his left hand said that.

"We can cauterize the cut and take him to a doctor or camp here for a few days and let it close up." That came from a Cosmo's warrior.

"Cough, cough. I guess I found the right group." Sephiroth said before slipping into unconsciousness.

He woke up in front of a fire. It was night time and, guessing from the position of the stars, two days later.

"I see you went with keeping me put plan."

All of them turned to look at him. "Well, sleeping beauty has finally decided to wake." Said the one with the machine gun arm.

The flower girl came over to him and gave him a drink of water. "Feel better?"

"Yes," Sephiroth put a hand to the wound and found it gone. "I'm going to kill him for this."

The group looked amongst themselves and the one with spiky hair asked, "Who?"

"The same guy you're looking for, Ganglere." Picking himself up, he examined the damage to his shirt. It was bad, with the slash and the blood it was beyond repair. He took it off and tossed it in his fire, went through his second change of clothes and grabbed that shirt and put it. "The name is Sephiroth. And you are?"

"My name is Cloud." Said spiky. "I'm Aeris," came from the flower girl. "Tifa," from the well endowed woman. "Barret," from the one with the machine gun. "…People call me Red XIII." And that came from the Cosmos Canyon warrior.

"A pleasure to meet all of you. So, when are we going after him?"

"_We_ are continuing on tomorrow morning. You are going to the nearest hospital to have that looked at." Said Cloud.

"The wound is fine, Ganglere purposely made it shallow so I wouldn't die. He wants me to follow him. And I'm going to. But I would prefer it if I went with you."

"…"

"Cloud, I can tell that what he said is true. And I can also tell he will be useful." Said Aeris.

"Fine, boy. You want to come, prove how good you are with that blade against me."

Sephiroth drew his katana while Cloud took out the Buster Blade.

"Big sword, compensating?" Behind them, they could hear a couple of muffled laughs. "No. Actually, I always thought the sword described the wielder. And seeing your sword, it's obvious that you are weak, thin, and flimsy." More laughter came from behind them

Cloud did a downward slash, knowing that Sephiroth would sidestep it. But he didn't. He raised his katana up, put his left hand behind the blade, and blocked the attack from the far heavier blade. "Weak, thin, and flimsy, we are not."

A kick to the chest knocked Cloud back ten feet. And even before he prepared himself for the oncoming attack, Sephiroth was there. He did a spin, knocking the sword out of his hand and ending with the blade under his chin.

"Am I good enough?"

"More than," came from Tifa. "Cloud was once a First Class Soldier."

"…First Class Soldier…Cloud Strife…"

"I never told you my last name. How did you know it?"

"Where did I …Ah, yes the Roster. Five years ago, a friend of my father came by and asked him to join a mission for Shin-Ra. I don't remember all the names. But I do remember that Ganglere was in it and you were there to."

"Just who is your father?" Cloud asked as he put the Buster Blade away.

"Vincent Valentine, former Turk. After the Nibelhiem incident, he kept berating himself for not going and saying that if he was twenty years younger, he could have killed Ganglere before all those that died, did."

"I doubt he could have, Ganglere is good." Stated Cloud.

"I know how good he is," Sephiroth said, placing a hand on his chest. "And I know how good my father was. And I can tell you, quiet truthfully, that if he were younger, my father would win. Even now it would be a toss up."

"Not a person you would want to meet on a bad day from the sounds of it." Red XIII said.

The next day, Sephiroth found himself going back to Junon. They stopped by Fort Condor to get him checked over anyway and helped with the battle there. But that didn't take long so he wasn't needed.

On their way to Junon, they decided to go through the forest. The monsters within were stronger than those without and Cloud said they needed to be stronger. Sephiroth didn't argue that point, rubbing a hand over the place the wound was.

After an hour of fighting, the monsters were no longer as troublesome as before. Magic was no longer needed to kill them.

"So, how much longer will we stay in here?" Sephiroth asked when his group, Aeris, Red XIII, and himself, met back up with Cloud's, Tifa, Barret, and Cloud.

"Five minutes to rest up, then we go," he replied.

After three minutes, a trap was sprung, dropping a net. It wasn't meant for a group spread out as they were so it only caught Tifa, Barret, and Red XIII. Cloud and Aeris went to help them.

"Don't! Leave it for now!" Sephiroth called to them.

Looking at him, they saw his katana out and in his right hand, held up with the curve going down, and his left hand at the end of the blade. He was casting about, looking for the person who dropped the net.

A four point shuriken flew at him. He caught it with the katana. Then, almost faster than the eye could see, he spun, keeping the momentum of the throwing star going, and returned it to the sender. They caught it but not before it cut the branch she was on off the tree.

"WHOA!" A girl ninja fell to the ground in front of them. "Ouch," She got up and pointed at Sephiroth. "Alright samurai, just because you got me to the ground, doesn't mean you won, I'm still fighting!"

"Fine, have it your way."

When the fighting was done, she was on the ground, breathing heavily. "Think we over did it?" asked Aeris. "No." Sephiroth replied, going over to her. He had sheathed his blade but hadn't returned it to his belt. "Hello."

She jumped up and said, "No fair, you ambushed me!" Someone was going to protest that but Sephiroth beat her to it. "Sorry."

"What are you going to do, leave? Stay and finish this fight!"

"No thanks." The others realized what was going on, a game of words. It would go until one loses and… Well, they didn't know what the 'and' was but they had a feeling that if Sephiroth lost, their wallets would to.

"Why? Afraid?"

"Terrified."

"Of course." She said and made to leave. "I really am leaving."

"Hold on a moment."

"Why? Oh I get it. You want me to join you."

"… Yes."

"I can see why, I am the greatest ninja in the world!"

"Let's go." Sephiroth turned, got the net off the other, and motioned them to leave.

"Hey! Wait up; you don't even know my name! It's Yuffie, glad to meet cha." She ran to catch up with them. "How did you know I was still playing?"

"You don't seem the type to give up."

"You're right. Actually, if you lost I was planning on taking some gil from you."

Author's Notes: I don't own Final Fantasy 7


	4. Chapter 4

"All right, I'll go with up the power line. You guys find whatever way you can." Cloud said and went down the path to the beach. The others went their own way, leaving just the two teenagers and Red XIII.

"So, anyone have an idea how to get up there?" Yuffie asked.

"No, the only time I came through here was in a cage." Red explained.

"Possibly. Allot of people owe me favors. And my fathers name still carries weight." Sephiroth said. He went over to the guard and, making sure they couldn't hear him, started talking to him. He made it seem to the two watching him that he was bargaining, manipulating, and dropping the Valentine name in the conversation. Even went so far as to rest a hand on the pommel of his katana.

In actuality, he was saying, "Hey Faiell, how you been?"

"Good. And you?"

"Can't complain. Hey, I'm going to have to cancel going to that party, I got something big to take care of and it will take a bit."

"That bites. I guess I'll have it over at your house once you're done. So, you need to go up?"

"Yeah, me and my friends."

"Okay. Hey, say hello to my mom if you go by Windsong."

"Sure."

He stepped to the side and let the three enter. At the top, they entered the locker room and grabbed some uniforms. Yuffie, got a sailor uniform, Red XIII got in a standard soldier uniform, and Sephiroth got in a Soldier 1st class, swords master uniform, the only one that fit him.

"I think I might be noticed in this," he said, referring to the green, sub color blue, uniform.

"Not as much as with that black coat," Yuffie said from inside the changing booth.

A sergeant came in and, upon seeing the uniform and rank, saluted. "Sir, anything I can help you with?"

"No, Sergeant. I'm just under orders to take this sailor and soldier down to the docks."

The sergeant looked at Yuffie, who had just came out, and nodded in approval after seeing nothing wrong. Then he looked at Red XIII. He was sitting down like a human did and had what would be his fore arms resting on his legs and his paws between his legs. And it was obvious to his friends that he was barely living through this indignity. The sergeant didn't nod approvingly at him.

"Sir, maybe another soldier is in order."

"No. My commander ordered me to over see personnel placement for the 7th unit and the 22nd sailors unit to make sure that the right one are in sight and the wrong ones, the sloppy ones, are not. This soldier is the definition of excellence but his image is bad so I'm taking him to his assignment on board the cargo ship. The sailor on the other hand will be at the boat as a guard for the President as he enters."

"Yes sir." The sergeant saluted and left.

"That was impressive. You know, that rank is going to be useful." Yuffie said as she sat down on the bench. "How did you do that?"

"My father was a Turk and he was determined to make sure I knew protocol in everything. Soldier and the Shin-Ra army eventually came up. By the way, back down stairs, I didn't force our way in, I knew him from home. I was just seeing if you two could see me faking."

"I thought something was up." Red XIII said.

"I knew something was up." Yuffie said, crossing her arms.

"Well soldiers, let's move out."

Outside, Sephiroth looked around and made sure that no one was watching and moved the two out to the hall. As they left, Sephiroth saw Cloud come through a door and the sergeant ream him for not being in uniform. With the two safely out of sight of anyone who would recognize them as fakes, Sephiroth walked over.

"Sergeant, make sure this soldier is in uniform and in the parade, then put him on the send off team. 2nd class, swordsmen, why aren't you in uniform? Forget it. Put him in a Warrants Officer's uniform and give him a gun."

"Sir," the Sergeant answered.

Before leaving, Sephiroth looked Cloud in the eyes and let him know who was under the helmet by saying, "Thin but strong," and pointed to his katana.

He knew he got Cloud mad at him for demoting him to a second class instead of his previous rank and he laughed at it. "Okay, now let's go."

At the boat, Sephiroth set Red XIII as a watch on a parapet. And set Yuffie on the honor guard as he said he would and took a spot by her.

"All right, here's what you need to do. For the time being, you are supposed to be motionless. So don't move if you can help it. Bend your knees a little so they don't cramp while waiting. Don't worry; the others here are doing the same. When the President gets here, you are to salute to him, no one else. On saluting, raise your right arm in a and have your fore finger over your right eyebrow. You are to stay that way until he salutes to you and lets it down."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Yes. Make sure that you do it in time with the other sailors. And don't worry too much about being the center of attention. The send off team will be."

"And what will they do?"

"You'll see."

After a few minutes, the President and the send off team arrived. The team started going through a routine meant to impress the sailors. A return will be done to the soldiers from the sailors when the President leaves the ship. But these are only done for ceremonies.

"The soldier on the right, does he look familiar?"

"Yeah, but who is he?"

Sephiroth smiled and said, "Cloud."

Yuffie nearly broke her composure, wanting to laugh. "How did he end up in there?"

"Yours truly."

"He he, nice. Thank you for putting me here."

"Thought you would enjoy it."

They did their finishing move and the President headed over. The sailors and the First Class in charge of this group saluted in unison. Rufus made a quick salute and boarded, not very interested in this group after the show held by the soldiers.

"They were good this time."

"It was the warrant officer, he was new. I'm sure he had something to do with the change."

"Well, we got some new personnel to, a new sailor and commander. Sir, any ideas on how to beat them next time?"

"Hmm, maybe this." Sephiroth did a flourish that outshined even Cloud's. It was taking his sword and doing a diagonal spin with his feet off the ground. The blade would come close to the neck of the person on his right but if done right, the distance between the blade and the flesh would be wide enough to put a fist in.

"That's great, sir. We'll get right on practicing it."

On board with nothing else to do, he drilled the five until they could do it perfectly with the practice sword then the real one.

When the alarms went off, he told them to go guard the President and went to look for Cloud and the others.

"What happened?" asked Cloud.

"I don't know, all of us are here so who can it be?" Tifa said.

At hearing this, Sephiroth turned and headed down the stairs, drawing his sword and not even bothering with the uniform.

"That hot head," Cloud muttered. "Aeris, come on, he'll most likely need your healing spells."

Down stairs, they heard the clang of mythril meeting mythril. Going through a door, they saw Sephiroth caught up in a fight with Ganglere. And, even though he was being pushed back, he wasn't being overwhelmed in the first moments like everyone else.

He would have continued but when Ganglere noticed Cloud was there, he had to stop the fun.

"Sorry, whelp, have to go. After all, you're only a side character in this story." He flew off, leaving behind one of Jenova's hands.

After the fight was over, Cloud turned on Sephiroth. "What is wrong with you! You endangered everyone in this group just running off like that! You want to kill him, fine! But continue to act so recklessly, there will be no place for you in this group! Do you understand me!" Cloud said, expecting him to argue back.

"…Yes, sir," Sephiroth said in a calm and even voice. He messed up and he knew it. Cloud's surprise was evident on his face. Sephiroth bent and picked up the material that Jenova dropped and turned and left.

Author's Notes: I don't own Final Fantasy 7


	5. Chapter 5

When the boat landed at Costa del Sol, the group got off the boat.

"Thank GAWD! I thought that trip would never end!" Yuffie exclaimed when she got off.

"Damn right brat. If you threw up anymore, the ship would have sunk," Barret said in a jest.

"I can't help it! I get motion sickness."

"Alright you two, enough," Cloud interrupted. "We'll stay here for a day or two before going on. During that time, doing whatever you think will help you rest up."

Sephiroth smiled, his mind momentarily visualizing the three women in the group on the beach, in bikinis, sun bathing or swimming. He quickly banished the thought from his mind and face but not before Yuffie noticed it.

The point of her Shuriken touched the underside of his jaw, "What are you thinking of?"

"Just the thought of getting this coat off and going swimming," he replied hastily.

"Uh-huh, right. What were you really thinking of?" Yuffie asked.

"Just the beach, that's all!" Sephiroth said, hurriedly.

Yuffie glared at him for a moment, then shrugged and put the throwing star away. "Alright then, let's go." She grabbed his arm and dragged him along with her.

"…You don't suppose he was thinking…" Barret started.

"About the same thing I was. Probably, except with Yuffie." Cloud finished as the two women he had fallen in love with walked away, talking amongst them.

"…How can he stand that coat? I live in mine and I can't take much more of this heat." Red XIII said.

"You either come out or I'll go in and drag you out." Yuffie said into the changing room.

"How many times do I have to tell you," Sephiroth said in reply, "this doesn't fit. And it takes time to get all this off and back on."

"Then leaving it off," Yuffie said in exasperation.

"Wait, why do you even care?" Sephiroth asked out of the blue.

Yuffie tried to make something up but he came out, fully clothed, and put the swimming trunks back and picked up a larger pair. The size on the trunks and his pants were different, with the shorts larger on the tag. But clothing in this town is naturally smaller. And he refused to walk around in a one of those male thongs, the only things correctly labeled.

He grabbed another pair, checked them against his leg, and went back in. "If you're so bored, why don't you try something on? That turtle neck is nice but not exactly beach wear."

"Fine," she grabbed something and went in the next booth.

The shorts fit this time, with out being to tight, and Sephiroth liked the design on it so he decided to get it. When he walked out, Yuffie was there again. Only this time, she was wearing a two piece sky-blue bikini with a shawl around her hips, going over her left leg. It took everything he had to keep those shorts from getting tighter.

Yuffie's jaw nearly dropped. Sephiroth walked out only wearing the semi skin-tight shorts, revealing his fine, chiseled stomach and chest. While he wasn't a muscle bound idiot like those that walking around there, thinking that was all it took to get a girl, he wasn't a light weight either and was without a single ouch of fat. His long white hair was pulled back and tied about half-way down. He looked like an avatar for a god.

"Wow. I, I mean…wow." Sephiroth said, giving her a look over.

Yuffie gave herself a little shake and said, "Ready?"

"Yeah."

Outside, the two walked down the short road to the steps to the beach. Stopping at the hotel to drop off their clothes, they went to the steps. Below them, the beach, with a huge number of lovely women in a single or two piece bikini, spread out before them.

"Well, get going." Yuffie said behind him.

"You're not coming with me?"

"Maybe later, I have things to do."

Sephiroth frowned and looked past her at the surf. But instead he saw a man that he hated passionately. "That's okay, so do I."

He walked down the steps with his left hand tightening on the sheath of his blade. He came to a group of women that surrounded the man. "Excuse me ladies, I need through."

"Go around," the man said.

"No, I need to talk to you, Hojo. And these women, no matter the how or why, won't keep me from you."

Hojo finally turned his head from the chest in front of him to look at Sephiroth. "Who are you to be threatening me, much less anyone at all?"

"Sephiroth Valentine."

"…Ladies, can you leave me alone for a minute? Thank you. So, what do you want with me?"

"Truthfully, to kill you and I could do it without anyone seeing my sword drawn. I had a run in with my counter part, your 'son'."

"Ah, Ganglere, how's he doing?"

"He's a psychotic murderer. How do you think? The reason I wanted to talk to you is to ask what you would have done to my mother if she had become your experiment."

"I think we both know what would have happened to her, and you." Hojo replied.

"Then you're lucky my father doesn't know."

"Discover all this on your own? Impressive. I've heard of you and you're skills, Sephiroth. I believe that you would have been a hell of an experiment. That your skills would have been equal if not greater than that of Ganglere."

The Dragon's Claw was out of its sheath in an instant and bit into the sand, through the towel, and pulling a sliver of blood from Hojo's neck.

"_Never say that again. I am not nor ever will be your experiment. And I will surpass Ganglere. Without your experiments!"_ Sephiroth said it, so full of hate that when he was bringing his sword down, he had to force it from slicing through the neck of this monster.

"No, if you can't even kill me, I doubt that you could kill him." Hojo said before dismissing him.

Sephiroth pulled the Dragon's Claw out and put it back in its sheath. As he walked away and the women started back for Hojo, he said, "Ladies, there's something you should know about him. The last woman who fell in love with him was experimented on while she was pregnant. She was put through hell by him, for him before dieing in child birth. He didn't even lift a finger to help her while he was watching. Her son was turned into a monster even before Hojo there got his hands on him. I just thought you should know that before you throw yourselves at his feet."

That stopped them and got a glare from him. "And Hojo, make no mistake, I will be the one to end your life. On this sword or some other one, your blood will be shed and left to sink into the ground."

Yuffie watched the exchange and gasped when she thought the he killed him. But when he left him alive, she let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Not because she didn't want Hojo dead, she didn't even know of him, but because for the time being, he was innocent.

. "Ladies, there's something you should know about him. The last woman who fell in love with him was experimented on while she was pregnant. She was put through hell by him, for him before dieing in child birth. He didn't even lift a finger to help her while he was watching. Her son was turned into a monster even before Hojo there got his hands on him. I just thought you should know that before you throw yourselves at his feet. And Hojo, make no mistake, I will be the one to end your life. On this sword or some other one, your blood will be shed and left to sink into the ground."

Okay, now he deserves to die, she thought.

As Sephiroth walked back up the steps, suddenly not wanting to swim, he saw Yuffie sitting at a table at the café. "May I join you?"

"Go ahead."

As he sat down, he saw her eyes dart between him and the beach. "I take it you heard me."

"Yes, barely."

"That was Hojo, head of the Shin-Ra Science Department. Has been since after his research on this creature called Jenova. My parents at one point were forced to work under him. But when they married, he wanted someone new. The same woman I was talking about."

"Wait, then does that mean that your mother was supposed to be his test subject and that would mean…"

"That instead of me searching to kill Ganglere, you guys would be searching to kill me."

Yuffie couldn't say anything. And, for a moment, neither could Sephiroth. After a minute, when a waiter went by, he asked for green tea and some egg rolls.

"Egg rolls?" Yuffie asked.

"I love Wutian food. In part because my mother is Wutian, in another, because it's good."

She didn't say anything for a moment then smiled. "Cheers."

Author's Notes: I don't own Final Fantasy 7


	6. Chapter 6

As they stepped off of the air trolley, they were bombarded with a large array of sights and sounds.

"Welcome to Gold Saucer," said this lady with pretty smile.

"I'm just glad we can finally glad we can rest without having to worry about having monsters jump us in our sleep." Sephiroth said as he made for the entrance.

"And that this is the world's greatest theme park is no never mind to you." Yuffie said, following him.

"Well, only a little." He replied with a Chester cat grin.

At the door, Sephiroth flashed his gold ticket. "I'm sorry but you ticket only allows a party of two, not of seven. You'll have to get it updated."

"Hey Cloud, do you have a gold Ticket?"

"No, never been here before."

"Can we afford one from the party cash?"

"…No, we only have 17,000 Gil."

"Miss, do you have check card reader here?"

"Yes sir, right over here."

Sephiroth slid his card though, pressed a few numbers, and was asked how many people he wanted on this one.

"Ten people please."

"Okay, that'll 35,000 Gil …and the transaction has been approved. Please enjoy you stay."

"Here Cloud, I don't need this."

"Thanks…"

"So, let's have fun!" Aeris said.

"FUN? YOU WANT TO HAVE FUN WHILE WE STILL NEED TO FIND GANGLERE? FINE, GO HAVE FUN!" Barret yelled then ran through one of the chutes.

"Wow, he's really on edge." Cloud said, wondering why.

Sephiroth shook his head and grabbed said to Yuffie, "Come on, let's go before our resident love triangle causes us trouble."

"Sure. See you three later guys!"

"Wait, when did those two starts spending so much time together did?" asked Red XIII.

Everyone else only shrugged.

They came out at the event square where a concert was being put on. The band was called Ilphbryn, meaning Emerald Agents in ancient tongue. There really was no lead singer for the band, just the person who sung the song the best. This time it was the female guitarist. Though the song was in Wutian, it was so popular that no-one cared.

Just being close to you doesn't make love happen.  
Even if I make a puzzle you can't solve it because you're slow  
We came to the spring sea, wearing summer clothes.  
Please cover me gently with your shirt.

My heart won't let me say  
"Please kiss me."  
Day dream... My dream gets bigger  
and disappears high in the sky.

Any girl can be happy.  
When they fall in love, they start shining.  
Even if the tears start flowing, or my heart aches,  
if it's because of you, I won't be sad.

I want to have a secret. I want to feel guilty.  
Though I know what's happening with you, I pretend I don't  
Even if my heart races in fall, or I feel sad in winter,  
I'll be okay if this precious love bears fruit.

I want to be certain of your heart.  
I believe in your fingers touching me.  
It's my first true love,  
which is why my cheeks are burning.

When a girl is in love, she can become beautiful.  
She doesn't even need red lipstick.  
Even if she can't sleep, all she does is dream,  
overflowing with feelings of love.

Any girl can be happy.  
If she is full of love, she can be invincible.  
Even if tears start to flow, or her heart aches,  
if it's because of you, she'll become gentler.

"My Heart, Your Heart," Sephiroth said, saying the name of the song. "A song about what happens to women when they're really in love."

"Well, aren't you full of surprises?" Yuffie said with raised eyebrows. "Not many people learn that language anymore."

"The language is beautiful as is the culture."

"Was beautiful," Yuffie corrected. "Now, it's just a tourist trap."

"I know, and I'm sorry."

It's too late to cry I love you.

The wind still blowing, my heart still aching

One side of my eyes see tomorrow,

And the other one see yesterday

I hope I could sleep in the cradle of your love, again

Cry for me, somebody, with dry eyes

The real folk blues

I just want to feel a real sorrow

It's not bad a life in the muddy river

If life is once

Hopeless hope, and the chance with traps

What is right, or wrong?

It's like a both side of a coin

How long I must live till I release?

The real folk blues

I just want to feel a real pleasure

All that glitters is not gold

The real folk blues

I just want to feel a real sorrow

It's not bad a life in the muddy river

If life is once

Again, that song was in Wutian.

"Ouch," Sephiroth said as he listened to the song and considered the timing. "Real Folk Blues…

"…Hey Yuffie, on the next song…would you like to dance?"

"Sure."

Luckily for him, the nest song was a slow dance. As he held her close, he couldn't help but notice she smelled of lilacs.

But as the song ended and went back to fast pace, some guards ran into the room. "Those two there, they were with him!"

"Grab them!"

"Time to run, Yuffie!"

They were almost to the door when two machines dropped down on them and bound then.

When one of the guards stepped up Sephiroth said, "Shit, I knew Dio was into some weird stuff, eccentric at most. But I never thought he would grab people from his park for bondage. Phh!"

He was hit in the stomach hard enough to knock the air from his lungs. "Was that necessary?"

"No."

They were over the door way leading to the Coral remains. "Look, go get Dio, there's been some kind of mistake."

"He was the one who ordered us to put the man with the gun arm and his companions down there."

"Well, shit," was all he could say before going down.

They landed next to each other but Sephiroth took a moment longer to get up because of his armor.

"Hey boys, fresh meat," was said a few feet away from them. As Yuffie got up, a man grabbed her. "And look what we have here. I bet this cute little thing had never even been kissed."

"I bet she's tight," one of them said.

"Let go of me you sick bastard!"

"Now why would we do that?" said the man with his arms wrapped around her. A knee to the crotch was his answer. "Bitch!" the man said before throwing her to the ground and kicking her.

"She wants you to leave her alone." It was said in the most dangerous voice they had ever heard.

Sephiroth had gotten up and was standing on his feet, unwavering, but his left arm hung limp and his left shoulder hurt like hell. And his right also hurt, just not as much.

"And if we don't?"

"I'll kill you two and put you through hell for what you've done to her."

"I doubt that. I bet you can't even lift the katana."

Sephiroth knew that was true but that wasn't his only weapon. His right hand went to his wakizashi at his hip.

"Like a short sword will do it."

"Then why not try your luck?"

The bastard smiled and said, "Let's get him, those diasho will give us food for a month."

One guy went for him and Sephiroth side stepped him and plunged the blade of the sword into his back and through his heart. As the body fell, Sephiroth ran forward. The blade then slit the throat of the third man.

"Just you left."

Seeing his friends die in a mere moment, he decided to run. Sephiroth threw the wakizashi and it went through the man's kidney and the man fell. Sephiroth walked over and put a boot on his back, keeping him down, and retrieved his blade.

"When I'm done, you'll be wishing for hell." The Dragon's Fang went into the right side of his chest, finding a lung.

"No… Sephiroth… just finish him."

As much as he wanted to go through with his threat, he listened to Yuffie. The Dragon's Fang came out and went through his heart.

"Did they seriously hurt you Yuffie?" Sephiroth said as he cleaned the blade and returned it to its sheath.

"No, I'm just a little sore. What about you?"

"I'm fine for now."

"Yeah, right, with your arm hanging like that, I doubt it."

"I don't care what you doubt; I care about are you well." He went over, picked her up, not caring about how much his arms hurt for it, and went in search of a place to rest. Everyone who watched gave him a wide lip.

"Hey, put me down!"

"Sure, when we're inside there."

Sephiroth pushed the door open and found everyone else already there; and Barret's gun smoking from just being fired. "Okay, what did we miss?"

"I want to know the same thing," Aeris said, eyeing them.

Sephiroth ignored that and put Yuffie on the couch. "Idiot! What if you hurt your arm even worst?"

"I'll be fine, it's just dislocated." I hope. "Go ahead and continue your discussion."

He walked over to the door frame, grabbed it with his left hand, and pulled. His teeth were clenched so hard that he thought that they would brake. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath. But his arm still hurt in the mid section. It was either cracked or broken.

"Anyway, to get out, we'll need to talk to Dyne. I'm going with Barret, who'll be the third member?" Cloud asked. "Sephiroth, can you fight?"

"No, I'm out of commission for now."

"I thought so," Yuffie said before sticking her tongue out at him.

"What's happened?" Tifa asked.

"When we were dropped, my arm was dislocated and broken, Yuffie was nearly raped. They didn't get close though."

"Do we want to know what you did to them?" asked Cait Sith

Sephiroth pulled out the wakizashi. "The two that were only planning to mug us died quickly. The third…" he let it hang at that.

"Then you're both staying here," Cloud said. "Tifa, you're with me. Aeris, can you mend his arm? Please do."

She placed her hands around the brake and used a cure 2. The crack closed and the bone was well on the way to being fixed. "That's all magic can do. Go easy on it for a few days."

After a few minutes, they heard a large amount of gun fire coming from north of them. "I guess they found who they were looking for." A little bit later, they came back and went up. Sephiroth was so bored that he kept readjusting the position of the Dragon's Claw and Fang. But when he heard a car horn, he ran out to see what was up. A buggy was there with a representative from Dio.

"I'm to give you Dio's personally apologies about the mix up and this. I do hope you'll give me a ride back to North Coral," the man said as he tossed the keys to Sephiroth.

"Get in the back. Hey, everyone, our ride out of here has arrived."

"About #$&& time!" yelled Barret as he jumped in.

"Good, the climate is drying out my nose," said Red XIII as he also got in.

"M' ladies, the car awaits," Sephiroth said to the three women.

Author's notes: I don't own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its charaters. The songs aren't mine either. They come from Oh! My Goddess and Cowboy Bebop.


	7. Chapter 7

Sephiroth pulled the Buggy to a stop outside the forest across Gongaga.

"Hey Sephiroth, why'd you stop?" asked Barret.

"Just going for a walk. Get something to eat, drink, and rest up for the night. It is nightfall. You're welcome to join me."

"But there's nothing out there…is there?" asked Aeris.

Sephiroth smiled. "Maybe, if you guys want to see, come with me." As he turned to the forest, he whistled. It sounded like a bird from the eastern continent. None of the others expected to hear a bird return that call but one did. As he started walking, he said over his shoulder, "There'll be a grand welcome for Avalanche, a warrior of Cosmo Canyon, and the last of the Cetra."

They looked amongst themselves for a moment and shrugged. They had nothing better planned for the night. So they got out of the buggy and followed him. All except Cait Sith.

"You guys go ahead; I'll stay in the buggy."

After five minutes, Sephiroth stopped and held up his hand for them to stop. As he looked at them, they saw him smiling. "Don't help."

He took a few steps forward, and then jumped to the side. Four shurikens and throwing daggers were sticking in the ground. Two women appeared, one on his left, wielding a wakizashi, and right, wielding a nagitana. Both were dress in forest camouflage. "Get him!"

As they came at him, he pulled out his katana and wakizashi. And it only took thirty seconds to disarm the two. After sheathing his swords, he pulled the two in a hug.

"Huh, does anybody know what's up?" asked Yuffie.

"My apologies. These two are my sisters, Alexia and Veronica."

"…And you three say hello with swords clashing?" asked Tifa.

"Not that often. Veronica, Alexia, this is Cloud, Tifa, Aeris, Barret, Red XIII, Cait Sith, whom isn't here right now, and Yuffie."

The two took off their mask, revealing faces very similar to Sephiroth's. Their hair was silver and fell to the middle of their backs. "A pleasure to meet you," the two said simultaneously. "Sephiroth, dad wants to talk with you."

"U-oh, what'd I do now?"

"How are we supposed to know?" the two said before running off.

"Sephiroth, what's going on?" Cloud asked wearily.

"Up ahead is a village called Windsong. It is completely free of Shin-Ra and the troubles it causes. And the people of Windsong go through great lengths to keep it that way. Even going as far as keeping it closed off to the world."

"And if someone stumbles onto it?" questioned Aeris.

"They won't. You see, the forest seems to be alive in the respect that path ways change almost every trip in. Only those that know the forest can get through it. The path ahead is so twisting that you won't be able to recall how you got to it.

"And for those that come this way without a guide, their path always seems to take them around."

"…It sounds like you're making this up," stated Barret.

"Then try to get their on your own," Sephiroth said before going ahead. "Not even compasses or walky-talkies work in this forest. Anything that relies on electricity or magnetism gets interference. Probably from a large amount of magnetized iron spread out in the forest."

"Did the people from the village put that there?" asked Yuffie.

"No, it's just there."

Sephiroth was right. The forest took many paths and turns. Even Red XIII got lost after a few minutes. But ten minutes later, they walked into a clearing. There were two things that they noticed at first. The houses were reminiscent of those from Wutai and that they could see three Mako Fountains just in sight.

"HOLY…Aren't they worried about Mako Poisoning?" asked a disbelieving Cloud.

"No one has ever gotten it since I was born here," stated Sephiroth. "Oddly enough, it doesn't harm the people here. And it keeps the monsters away."

"But how?"

"The planet knows, I don't. For all I know, maybe people here are used to it. Or maybe that the planet doesn't want it to hurt us. All I know is the walls around the buildings go two feet into the earth to force it down to be soaked back up into the earth. It is quiet safe here. So long as you don't go swimming in it."

Sephiroth got them a room in what passed as the inn in Windsong and went to see what his father wanted.

When he came back later that evening, the party that he had foretold was well on its way. Avalanche was a sort of hero in this town. And with Cosmo's warrior and a Cetra, everyone thought it was a good time to break out the bottles.

He sat down at a table in the common room and milked a glass of Windsong wine for half an hour, thinking about what his father had said. Not the 'how are you, son' or even the 'what the hell do you think you're doing bringing outsiders in town?' He calmed down after he explained who they were and why they were here.

No, it was what he said about Cait Sith: 'Don't trust him just yet. If he didn't want to come in the field, he may have something he doesn't want shut off. Keep your guard up.

Yuffie sat down in a chair next to him. Her face was slightly flushed, with a huge smile on her face, and the smell of Windsong wine on her breath. "You really shouldn't drink that much. You are pretty small and young."

A look of indignation appeared on her face. "You're no older."

"Yes I am. While you are only sixteen, I am nineteen, almost twenty. And this is still my first glass."

"So…"

"So, I mean that, not counting the very obvious drinking laws about minors, you have obviously drank allot. And that was all I'm really worried about."

"Oh," Yuffie said smiling again and starting to take another drink.

"Which also means I'm cutting you off," he said as he took the glass from her.

"Oh no, you don't," Yuffie said trying to take it back. Sephiroth just raised it out of her reach. And when she reached higher, he raised it higher. When she was about to stand at her full height, she fell forward, limp.

"Yuffie?" When he looked at her face, he saw her asleep and unlikely to wake up before noon tomorrow. He smiled, "Rule one of drinking, if you drink allot, do it standing. If you don't and you stand after a few minutes had past since your last drink, you will probably pass out."

Author's notes: Neither I nor the town of Windsong in anyway promote underage drinking. It's just in Windsong, it is a light wine made from the fruits common from the forest, only making the drunken condition in **_large_** quantities. And Yuffie is the greatest ninja in the world.

Author's Notes: I do not own anything about Final Fantasy 7. I wish I did. But I don't.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, after Yuffie finally woke up, Sephiroth gave everyone the ten cent tour of Windsong. It was a small village, with only a few hundred people, built at a bend in a small river. There were few electronics; all that were there were shielded against interference. In the center of town was the biggest library on the planet.

"This is used quiet often as there is no cable TV."

"You would think that a library that big would be disused without people coming to use it," stated Red XIII. Sephiroth only shrugged.

The largest source of entertainment, especially amount the young and fool hardy, was found in the regions wild chocobos. Those that thought they could would mount one, which is very easy, and try to stay on, which wasn't.

"That's cruel!" protested Aeris.

"Sure am, I got more scars from those birds then I have from fights. They know what is going on, that's why they let us on, to have some fun themselves.

"Aeris, a long time ago, the people of this region and the chocobos came to an arrangement. Besides the fun, there is another region, them," Sephiroth said, pointing to a group of chocobos riders that were training to be one with their mounts.

"The young of the humans would try to ride a chocobo and prove themselves to that chocobo. If he can stay on, the first part of the test is over. Next, the rider must prove their integrity. Those that fail, they get forced off the chocobo, one way or another. But those that pass, they become Chocobo Knights. A group that has long since been forgotten about, but at one time was great heroes."

"I never knew that," Yuffie said, and the others agreed.

"Like I said, long since forgotten. But they were real. You can find everything about them in some scrolls from an old kingdom called Alexandria in the library, along with some murals, wall scrolls, and tapestries of them. One scroll even has the complete list of names of the knights until the kingdom was destroyed by a great evil."

"A great evil? Do you mean Jenova?" asked Cloud.

"The translations don't call it that name but that is what I assume it to be."

Everyone remained silent so Sephiroth decided to move to a new subject.

"Tradition says that as the right to adulthood, every child must make their first chosen weapon. Only then can they be treated as an adult and be expected to take full responsibility for their actions. After that, the world is their playground…if they will accept the responsibility that goes with it. It also means that they can ride the chocobos."

"But why?" asked Tifa.

"Because, to quote a very good book series, 'even those without swords can be slain by them.' This village would be a prime target to Shin-Ra if they knew about it. The time will come when the world knows about us. But the chance that we will be greeting everyone with open arms does not exist right now. There will be some that will have to be met with blades."

"That's sad. But maybe when Shin-Ra is gone, it won't be needed," said Aeris

"But the first cause of it is still here. We are in a forest with some rather foul tempered frogs. And there won't always be a guard to protect someone. So, when this secret village was first established, that became its first tradition. That everyone knows how to defend themselves."

At this point, they came to a workshop where master weapon builders were teaching this batch of children to make what they wanted.

"Okay, Katela, in the making of a katana, you must pound out a block of strong metal, put metal shavings on it, and fold the metal. What two metals must you use?" one master asked a girl fourteen years old while he demonstrated.

"Original katanas were made of iron as the main with nickel as the shavings, in a process known as folding the blade. This is done hundreds, or even a thousand times. This creates what is known as Wutian Steel. As a result, the blade is very strong but flexible, making it suitable for blocking and turning away enemy blades, followed by a quick counter attack, without the fear of breaking when hit by heavier swords."

The master smiled, put down the hammer he was using, and turned to her. "You've been studying." The girl nodded in acknowledgment. "Now, for the harder question. What materials were used that still allows the flexibility, but increases its strength?"

"Wait, there's a way to do that?" asked Yuffie.

"Oh, Sephiroth, I didn't know you were watching. And you've brought guest. Yes, Miss, there is. And that brat right there was the one who found it," he said, pointing to Sephiroth.

He smiled in acknowledgement. "You were the one that said 'the day we quit trying to improve is the day someone makes something better."

Yuffie grabbed his shirt collar and started shaking him. "Alright, talk! How did you do it!"

"Shh, listen and learn."

The girl started reciting what she knew about it. "Mithril is the metal shavings while element Ti twenty-two, or Titanium, is the base metal. But as Titanium has a melting point of 3034 degrees Fahrenheit when it's an ore and over 12000 after smelting, a temperature normally found only in the fires produced by dragons, its uses as a material for weapons and armor was turned down. With Mithril having a lower melting point, it was taken up after three sets of Titanium armor was made some two thousand years ago through some unknown means.

"The only two existing swords made of these metals, by the folding technique are known as the Dragon Blades: the Dragon's claw, a katana, and the Dragon's Fang, a wakizashi. Produced by Sephiroth Valentine."

Everyone had stopped what they were doing to listen to the girl. "Sephiroth was able to melt the Titanium to a block and work with it by using a dragon to produce the fire. The blades produced through this method are thus called Dragon Blades."

"You old fart! You've been giving away my secrets!" Sephiroth said as a jest.

"Like it does anyone any good to know! Not one person has been able to get that dragon to do it again."

Yuffie grabbed him again. "HOW?"

"Now, that is a secret," Sephiroth said in all seriousness.

With that said, everyone went back to what they were doing; a twelve year old boy was making a double turn, or composite, yew bow and only had a days work left before he was done, an eight year old girl was working on an original design, a bladed yoyo.

With nothing left to show them, they went about gathering supplies and headed back to the buggy.

"Hey guys, what did you find?" asked Cait Sith.

"Just my favorite fruit trees in the world along with some great tasting deer meat." Sephiroth said.

Author's Notes: In this fanfiction and others I have written, Wutai is just the Final Fantasy version of Japan. So everything I say referring to Wutia also refers to Japan. Yes, those bits of information are true. Titanium does melt at that point, no sooner, and that is how you make a katana.

I'm tired of saying this. Yuffie, you say it this time.

**_Do I have ta? Oh fine. 1Sniperwolf does not own Final Fantasy 7._**

Ah, thank you. That point is always boring… Hey, will you go out on a date with me?

_**Hell no you PERVERT! (Uppercuts 1Sniperwolf)**_

(lands face first in the dirt) OW! Where's the love?

**_None here for you, LECHER! (gives one last kick) You're Twenty now, in the first game, I'm only sixteen!_**

I meant the Dirge of Cerberus you! You're nineteen then!


	9. Chapter 9

The sun was setting over Cosmo Canyon and it found Sephiroth sitting, watching the canyon spread out beneath him. He had found the highest perch he could find and had set himself in for a night of thinking. His father was right, Cait Sith wasn't to be trusted right away. He had found a pipe tampered with in the buggy after it broke down, and with a whole night, Cait Sith had the perfect opportunity to do it. But the question is why?

Sephiroth laughed, that was always the question. Why was he able to convince the dragon to help him and no one else? Why did what happen to Ganglere have to happen? Why was he even fighting?

…Who cares? That was how it was. The better question would be as to what will he do? Talk to Cloud? Corner Cait Sith about it? Neither seems very promising.

He heard the sound of someone trying to stealthily approach him coming up the side of the cliff. Yuffie, probably, she just won't give up. Sephiroth hid from view and waited.

Yuffie poked her head over the lip then jumped up. She had a throwing knife in her hand, which was cover in a powder. Most likely something to make him talk.

She relaxed when she saw he wasn't there. "Where is he?" Sephiroth smiled, he hadn't practiced his take down moves in a while, why not now.

While her back was turned, he came up behind her, wrapped an arm around her neck, grabbed her wrist, twisted it behind her back, and made her drop the knife. "Hello Yuffie."

"OW, OW, OW! Okay, you got me!" Sephiroth loosened his grip and felt a knife cut his leg. Letting go of her, he saw she had hidden one in her arm guard and that the first was a decoy. "Now, are you going to talk?"

Sephiroth's vision started to get blurry. Talk he would. Just not about what she wanted. "About what? That you are obviously also vying for Cloud's attention?" The drug hadn't fully kicked in so he could still lie for the moment. "Or that…that…I think you used too much, hi hi."

Yuffie was about to smack him for the first remark but stopped. "Huh, too much? No way, not with your size. I use two milligrams…or did I use five?" Yuffie took her eyes off him and checked the knife.

Sephiroth tripped her and pinned her to the ground. "You want the truth? Here it is…You are a very beautiful woman… Wait, that wasn't what I meant to say. Where did it even come from? I meant to say that…ah, woo, why is my head spinning?" Things started to black out and he fell over.

SMACK! Things came to focus all too clearly. "OW! Why did you do that?"

"Because I did use five! And I was afraid you were having a reaction to it!"

"Well, now my head is spinning more BRAT!"

"BRAT!? If I knew you would be this appreciative, I would have let you go under!"

"Hey, this is your fault! You drugged me!"

Yuffie got up and was about to leave. But Sephiroth grabbed her arm. "Thanks for not letting me go under."

She smiled. "No problem. Now tell me how you got that dragon to help you."

"She helped me because I helped her. Razz isn't like the other dragons, she has intelligence. She can speak and do anything she wanted, even shape shift to that of a human. But she couldn't kill two foes while one was distracting her while another went for her eggs. I stumbled upon them and helped her. So, she melted the ore and heated it while I was making them."

"That's it?"

"That is it. She did ask me to keep her a secret and that's why I didn't tell you."

"Why?"

"Because people are so proud of being a dragon slayer. What would make it better than fighting a dragon that can plan and hunt you back? Her race doesn't need that."

"Wait, there are more of them?"

"Yes. The dragons that attack everything are off shoots of real dragons. Her race use magic, sleep on hoards, the whole legend just about."

"Hmm, thank you. So, where is she?"

Sephiroth smiled. "I don't know."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON"T KNOW?!"

"She moves her nest around. She hasn't lived in this area for almost nine years."

Yuffie glared at him, judging the chance that the drug had worn off. "…If you had the chance, would you kiss me?"

"Absolutely," Sephiroth said before slapping a hand over his mouth.

"I guess it is still working. Is there anything I should know?" His hand was still clamped over his so he nodded. "What?"

Despite her best efforts, she couldn't make him remove his hand. "Fine, don't tell me that, tell me something else."

"I have nothing else to tell you."

"Okay, you're free to go…for now."

"You make it sound like this will be a common thing."

"Maybe," Yuffie said before getting off him and heading down to the candle.

After half an hour, the drug had completely worn off and Sephiroth was able to move again without falling. Down at the candle, he was about to take a seat at the edge of the light when Aeris waved him over.

"Hey Sephiroth, sit down." He shrugged and sat down next to her. He had nothing better to do. "Tell me, why is it that you fight?"

"Huh?"

"Everyone has a reason. For Tifa, it was the destruction of Niblehiem. For Barret it is for the destruction of Corel. Yuffie fights for Wutai, Cait Sith is after answers, and Cloud also fights for Niblehiem. So what do you fight for?"

Sephiroth thought about it for a moment but came to no answer. And he said so. "I have no idea. Maybe because some people just need to fight. Because they know nothing else."

"I don't think that is true. I'm sure you know other things."

"Oh I do. Military standard procedure, military code, combat analysis, tactics, armor specifications, weakness and strengths, metallurgy and it's uses in combat, the use of magnesium as an explosive fuse, the list goes on."

"Okay, maybe that is all you know. But don't you think that dedicating your life to the taking of the life of others is a little sad?"

"Every day. But then I think about this; every time some one oppresses another, they must be stopped. And while the word is good and all, it is the sword that is often called for. For every tyrant, there will be a hero to face them down. More over, sometimes to gain and keep the freedom that everyone enjoys, to ask that question and many others beside, someone must be willing to defend it."

"That is an excuse, Sephiroth."

"Maybe, but it is also the truth. Fighters are on both sides, you should know that."

"…"

"Aeris, your outlook on life is naïve, too optimistic, and I envy you for it. I wish I could see the best of all situations. But while there is people like me, people like you will need me to defend you from me. Doesn't that make all the since in the world?"

"Sephiroth, it isn't that hard."

"Oh? If you are to fall on the blade of an opponent, what would be the good of that? There is no good. That person decided to take your life. For whatever reason, you are still dead, and every one of us would be hurt. I know this, you don't."

Aeris didn't say anything, she was too sad to.

Sephiroth lowered his head, unable to look her in the eyes anymore. They fell on a piece of wood by his foot. Picking it up, he found it was roughly the size of a chocobo egg. Taking out a knife, he started cutting it.

After a bit, this caught the attention of Aeris. Smiling, she asked "what are you cutting?"

"Don't know yet." After some more time, the bottom grew to resemble a hair knife. The top looked like flowers. After a time, she saw that on the top of the hilt was the Dragon Leaf, and the bottom had a Mount Cook Lily.

Aeris raised an eyebrow as Sephiroth finished by cutting veins into the leaves. "Nice. If I remember right, and flowers are my specialty, the Dragon Leaf plant is for emphasizing divine potential and filling a person with light and good will. And the Mount Cook Lily is for honoring the feminine energy and setting a course to peace."

"I, uh, didn't know that. I just carved it…"

"With perfect details. Maybe you do know something after all."

"Uh, it's just a hair comb, you can have it."

"Some how, I doubt you carved it with me in mind."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Really? Ahem, 'if you had the chance, would…'" Before she finished, Sephiroth covered her mouth.

"How did you hear that?"

"I was only ten feet away."

"…I am going to get you for this, make no doubt."

Aeris took the empty threat in stride. "Get Yuffie first. How did you know about these plants anyway?"

"You need to know what plant is poisonous and what isn't when you live in a forest."

Author's notes: Poor Sephiroth. Just decided to carve something didn't matter what, and it turned out to be something embarrassing. And to be caught by the big sister of the group. By the way, I was originally looking for a plant that meant new life.

On to the boring part. I do not own Final Fantasy 7 or any of its characters. Right Sephiroth?

(grumbles) _Why did you have me know Botany?_

Everyone needs a hobby.

_But Botany?_

I could have you collect insects. I AM AN ALL POWERFUL AUTHOR AND CAN HAVE YOU DO THAT (lightning flashed in the background)! HAHAHA!

_That was the most pathetic attempt to sound evil I have ever heard._

Well, not everyone has had the chance to threaten all life on a planet. Much less twice!

_Hey, that is the Sephiroth from the game and movie, this is a parallel universe. I'm good here._

BECAUSE OF ME, THE ALL POWERFUL AUTHOR (lightning flashes again)!

_Dork._


	10. Chapter 10

A town was coming into view and Sephiroth pressed harder on the acceleration. The Buggy ran on materia rather than Lifestream and wouldn't run on empty. But he still wanted out of the vehicle. But he knew this wasn't going to be good. This isn't his first trip to Niblehiem.

"Coming up on Niblehiem now," he said, to judge everyone's reaction. Cloud and Tifa could hardly believe it. Barret and Red XIII looked a little confused. Cait Sith was a closed book, being the only expression he used was in his voice. And Yuffie…Yuffie had taken a tranquilizer and was asleep, leaning on his shoulder, no matter how many times she was straightened.

Parking the Buggy, the group headed into the town. But Sephiroth held back, he knew what they would see. And he didn't want to go in yet.

He sighed, remembering what Niblehiem meant. In one of the planet's old mythology, Niblehiem was the name of the land of the dead, guarded by the two headed hound, Garm.

"Hey, Sephy, what are you doing out here?" Yuffie said as she took his hand and tried to pull him inside the town.

"I just need some time to think, Yuffie. And I've been here before. It's filled, to the person, with Shin-Ra employees so determine not to make people suspicious that they do anyway."

Yuffie let go of his hand and leaned against the Buggy. "What are you thinking about that you need to clear your mind?"

"Anything and everything. Mostly about Ganglere though. Twice I have fought him and twice he has won. His skill with that sword is unbelievable and I hold a scare that is a testament to it… It's all just a little much, that's all."

Sephiroth leaned against the Buggy but stopped when he felt something poke his back. His hand reached into his back pocket and pulled out the hair comb. "Oh, here Yuffie," Sephiroth said, handing it to her.

She smiled and said, "Thank you Sephy." Sephiroth sighed at the nickname she gave him.

The next instant, they both looked to the west. Though they saw nothing, they felt this aura rising from the earth. "I think it would be a good idea to go find Cloud," Yuffie said, taking a few steps back.

A hundred feet away, the ground started to bulge and break. Yuffie was about to turn and run but Sephiroth grabbed her wrist. "Don't move." His eyes were trained on what was coming out. Two massive paws pushed through the dirt followed by the two heads of a giant hound. As more of it came out, Sephiroth realized this thing was not only two headed but it was twenty feet long.

"Garm," Sephiroth said, barely able to believe it. Belatedly, he clamped his mouth shut. The two headed hound turned its heads to look at him, and Sephiroth thought he saw a smile on their lips.

"**Well, well, what have we here," asked the head on the right. **_"I believe we have the most pathetic looking pair of humans we have ever seen," answered the head on the left. _**"But he is a smart one, calling us by name. It makes it hard to attack him."** _"But the girl hasn't said it, now has she?"_

The two bunched their legs and launched into a jump that was meant to land them on Yuffie. As she screamed, Sephiroth stepped in between the two and drew his katana.

But Garm soared right over the pair, laughing as he landed. "**_So, she's your woman then?_**" both heads asked. **"This might be interesting. Will you fight to protect her?"** _"I say we find out. It has been an awful long time sense we had some fun."_

"Yuffie, stand back," Sephiroth said as he made sure that he stayed between them. "So Garm, what are you doing here?"

"**_Don't try to distract us, boy. Over here, if we are to fight, we will need more room."_** That wasn't a request, and Sephiroth knew it. Right now, they had the upper hand with Yuffie there too scared to fight.

Sephiroth stepped over to the spot they had indicated and readied himself. Garm's goal right now was to see how he would react, which meant that Yuffie was still in danger.

Garm bunched his legs again and ran forward. At the last second, Sephiroth dodged to the side, slashing him from his blood stained crest to his hind quarters. With a normal monster, that would have been enough. But the Dragon's Claw was unable to pierce Garm's fur.

"**_HA HA HA, not what you're used to, huh boy?"_** Garm said at the look of disbelief on Sephiroth's face.

But Yuffie noticed something. The fur was weaker where the blood had stained it. A small slash in the fur could be seen just at the edge of the patch. "Sephiroth, his crest!"

They both looked at her and this time, she also saw Garm smile. _"Such smart ones we have found." _**"Maybe they aren't as pathetic as we thought."**

Sephiroth looked at the crest and saw the slash. "Thanks, Yuffie." Leveling the blade with the center of the crest, he raced forward to stab their heart.

When he was about to, the left head, bit down on the Dragon's Claw while the right head had went in to bite off the head of this human. But instead, it found the Dragon's Fang cutting the roof of its mouth. "I win."

The two heads stared him in the eyes for a moment and started to laugh again. Letting go of the sword, they took a step back and bowed in defeat. **_"Well done boy. This was the most fun we had in five hundred years. Here, your reward." _**A red orb materialized between the two and dropped to Sephiroth's feet. **_"It has been even longer since we gave that to a human. Summon us, and we will help you fight. Ha ha, why do you look so surprised? We aren't monsters…so to speak. We only fight when summoned or to test someone."_**

The two turned and left, quickly leaving the sight of the two humans. "…This was just some sort of test?" Yuffie's mind tried to wrap around this knowledge but it was too much. Sephiroth wasn't much better as he picked up the summons materia. Inside was the image of Garm running across a field, laughing.

When the two headed inside, they found Aerith waiting for them and prepared themselves for the giggles and what not. But they never came. "Did you two find some trouble out there?"

Sephiroth smiled as he said, "Nothing we couldn't handle."

Author's notes: So Garm wasn't a summon you could get in the game; I think he would have been cool to have. But Garm always falls to the shadows of Cerberus. And even he wasn't in Final Fantasy 7. Garm and Niblehiem is part of Norse Mythology.

I don't own Final Fantasy 7 nor any of the characters.

Hey Yuffie, sorry for the scare.

_**You Jerk! He scared me half to DEATH!**_


	11. Chapter 11

The safe swung open with little trouble, revealing three things: a key, a summons materia, and a book. Taking all three items, Cloud examined each. "Basement key…Odin…Cosmos Memory… Sephiroth, do you have a Summon?"

"Yeah, I got one."

"Here Yuffie," Cloud said before giving the summons to her. "We're going down to the Basement now."

Downstairs, Cloud put the key into its key hole and nodded to Barret. If something came out that alive, he would fill it with lead.

"Cloud, think about where we are! I'm sure a _vampire_ is on the other side of that door!"

"Yuffie, relax. If something goes wrong, we'll protect you," Cloud said before turning the key and opening the door. When something taller than she was fell to the ground, Yuffie nearly passed out. Until she saw it was just a stack of papers.

"I can't take much more of being scared witless," she said as she forced her heart back down her throat.

Cloud stuck his head in the room and found it was just filled to overflowing with notes, files, and other papers. "Nothing note worthy in here."

As Sephiroth walked down the hall, he had the feeling that, somehow elsewhere, that should have been different.

Down the hall, they once again encountered Ganglere. "You feel it, don't you? The things that have happened here, that should have happened here. All to create the perfect life form…hehehe, HAHAHA! If only Gast had known what he was doing!" At this he turned to them and acknowledged there existence. "If you want to fight me, to stop me, go across the mountain, pass the reactor. Oh, you're here whelp. Maybe we can finish our fight later." Before he left, he shot a glare at Aerith.

Sephiroth tried to stop him but was unable to get the Dragon's Fang out fast enough. "We will finish this Ganglere."

The others watching him knew what was coming. Every encounter with Ganglere made him act without thinking, letting his hatred fusing through his being and guide his actions. But, except for Yuffie, no one knew why Sephiroth hated Ganglere so much.

Aerith was about to go over to see if she could stop what was coming but he took off after Ganglere before she reached him.

"Sephiroth! Remember what I said?!" was all Cloud said but it stopped Sephiroth in his tracks. His body shook for a moment but then that ceased and Sephiroth was the carefree nineteen years old he often appeared to be.

Putting a hand behind his head, he said, "Sorry boss, I guess I lost my head."

Cloud watched him for a moment and went down the hall, picking up the materia Ganglere dropped as he did.

In the mountains, Sephiroth was able to release all his pent up frustrations. At one point, he left a small hole where he had finished off a monster. When he got back up, he realized that he was scaring some of them. So he put on a goofy smile and said, "I feel better. It's been to slow inside the Buggy; I guess I needed to burn off some energy." That caused them to relax a little but he could tell they were still worried.

_I just need to beat him once,_ Sephiroth thought, _then I'll have proven that isn't who I am. That I'm not supposed to be a monster._

When they were about to leave the mountains, the found a monster blocking the path, a large one. "Well, fearless leader, any strategies or thoughts," Sephiroth asked.

"Not getting killed is always a good strategy," Yuffie said at his side.

"Sephiroth, Barret, Yuffie; use distance attacks and magic. Aerith and Cait Sith hold back and use healing magic. Tifa, Red XIII, and I will attack up close."

Barret started unloading his machine gun on the Materia Keeper while Sephiroth and Yuffie activate their Summons materia. The two headed hound arrived first. "**_So this is what you decided to fight first, huh?"_** The left head released a breath of ice, freezing the Keeper's armor like skin. The right head then used a blast of fire that caused the frozen skin to crack and break. Garm then bunched his legs and jumped. He sailed right over its back, raking claws along it as he did. He disappeared before he landed.

"You know for a creepy oversized mutt, he's pretty strong," Yuffie said before darkness descended over the group. Behind them they heard the sound of hooves touching the ground. All of a sudden a rider was among them, riding an eight legged horse, and holding a spear with a sword at his side. He threw the spear into the air and it came down on the Materia Keeper with the force of an asteroid.

When the dust had cleared, everyone saw that the keeper had been hit with such force that the spear went right through it into the rock, pinning it there. Odin turned and left, and though he disappeared, his spear stayed for a few seconds more.

"Before it dissipates, kill it!" Sephiroth said, activating materia after materia until he was mentally fatigued.

They got several hit in before the keeper could move again. It then used an attack that hit all of them with electricity. Dimly, Tifa and Yuffie realized that their enemy skills learned an attack called Trine.

Sephiroth had nearly fallen; his coat had chain mail inside it to help fend off attacks. But it had just pulled most of the energy into him. Beneath his coat, where his skin touched it, he could feel blisters rising up from the worst of the burns. Unable to hold himself up any longer, he was leaning on the Dragon's Claw.

Things seemed to be slowing down around him. Somehow, energy started flowing through his body and down to the sword. Faster than his mind could follow, his body started to move. The Dragon's Claw went over to its sheath while Sephiroth ran forward.

The Keeper saw him and moved its horn so that the running human would be impaled on it. But Sephiroth ducked under it and pulled the Claw from its sheath, forcing it through the skull of the monster, and on to its tail. Sephiroth stopped running a few steps after, the Claw nearly straight ahead of him.

For a moment, no one moved. Then the Materia Keeper fell, with its top half sliding off. Sephiroth moved the Claw to his right, throwing off the blood, then returned it to its sheath.

Aerith was the first to react, seeing burns on his hands. Running up to him, she used a regen spell on him. The pain quickly eased and Sephiroth was able to breath easy again.

"Sephiroth, I'm going to take your coat off," Aerith said before she started too. But Sephiroth stepped away before she could.

"D-don't touch it…is there a s-stream or such near here?" They could see his hands shaking.

"At the foot of the mountain, a little off the path," Yuffie said, concerned about her friend.

"Lead the way Y-Yuffie."

Sephiroth's movements were almost mechanical as he walked but he wouldn't accept help. He wouldn't even let them touch him.

When they got to the stream, Sephiroth jumped into and submerged himself. The water was freezing, having just melted, and his body quickly went numb. When it did, he pulled off his coat and shirt and threw them ashore. When finally he came out, he was blue in the face but the burns had returned to white for the moment.

"Now try it again," Sephiroth said to Aerith. For a moment she didn't move, that was allot of burns to walk with. "Aerith, please." She put her hands around his face and started casting. It took ten minutes but the last burn finally faded.

"Thank you," Sephiroth said before he collapsed. "That really hurt…"

"Cloud, we need to get him warmed up quickly!" Aerith said as she flipped him on his back and used his coat as a pillow. Her eyes widened as she felt the chain mail underneath the thick leather.

Around them people started moving, trying to gather enough wood for a fire. Cloud ordered everyone to move in different directions, to cover the most ground, and to be back in five minutes. But as they were on a mountain, they were only able to get enough wood to have a fire for eight hours.

With the fire started, they only had to get him out of his wet clothes and into a warm blanket.

Sephiroth woke up in the morning in a blanket that was slightly wet and started to get up. But then realized that was a bad idea. He didn't have a scrap of clothes on. His clothes were dried out by the remains of the fire and his bag was stacked with the others. "Not to bother anyone but can I get dress?"

Tifa was the only one around. She got up and picked up his clothes. "I don't know, I think Yuffie likes you this way."

Sephiroth imagined that his face was as red as the rest of his body was last night. "She didn't…"

"No, Cloud and Barret did. But she did find out that you wear boxers," Tifa said, smiling without mercy or pity for him.

"…Where is everyone else?"

"They went out to get something fresh to eat." Tifa said, still not handing over the clothes.

"Tifa…"

"Yes?"

"May I have my clothes?"

"Hmm, here you go," she put them on the ground just out of his reach.

"You evil, _evil_ woman," Sephiroth said, glaring at her.

"If you want them, you just have to get up and pick them up," Tifa said, still smiling.

"You're toying with me, aren't you? After all, you love Cloud and it's obvious you lust for him too."

Tifa glared at him for a moment but then said, "Yeah, I'm messing with you. Hurry up, they should be here soon." Tifa then turned around.

Sephiroth had just finished when they got back. They made a quick meal of some fruits, vegetables, and fish before getting ready to leave.

"So, Sephy, was that your Limit break? What's it called?" Yuffie asked.

"Yeah it was. It's the death draw. It causes the person to move at such speeds that the mind cannot control it. Everything must be reaction. I know, not something the normal person can do."

Yuffie's face scrunched up as she thought about why wouldn't they. "Why?"

Sephiroth frown at this. "I would have thought that the world's greatest ninja would have known. I was told once that the difference between a warrior and a weapons master was that when the weapons master fought, it wasn't something he planned, move for move. In combat, their minds are pushed aside, no thought, no thinking, just reflexes and reactions. The mind can do many things. But the body can do many more if the mind would only let it."

"You can be serious. What about plans, strategies?"

"…I'll show you when we have the time."

Picking up his bag, he followed Cloud down the mountain.

Author's notes: I don't own Final Fantasy 7. But I do own a Katana that I have named the Dragon's Claw. The cross guard is the claw of a dragon.

Hmm, anything any of you want to add? Cloud? Yuffie? Anyone?

_No, we're good._


End file.
